Big Blue plays musical chairs around CFO position

IBM have named John Joyce, 45, currently general manager of IBM's Asia-Pacific region and veteran IBM executive, to take over as chief financial officer effective Nov. 15. Joyce will replace current CFO Douglas Maine, who has stepped aside to head TeleWeb, a newly created unit with thousands of employees that will handle Web sales and customer service call centers for IBM. In Big Blue's Asia-Pacific region, Joyce will be replaced by Kakutaro Kitashiro, general manager of IBM Japan. That move makes Kitashiro the first Asian to head IBM's extensive operations in the Asia-Pacific. Kitashiro's successor at IBM Japan will be named shortly. -- Reuters